Understanding
by sinfullysarcastic
Summary: 'And the dots are connecting in Nina's head- because, yes, if anyone would get it, it would be Joy, wouldn't it? Joy Mercer, mysteriously gone for a year, returning to find the one guy she had ever liked dating someone else, all her friends wrapped up in something else. ' Nina, back for senior year, finds a friend in someone unlikely when she sees Fabian and Mara together. Drabble.


**Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis.**

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

Nina's head shoots up at the words, and she wipes some stray tears from her eyes. How could she have been so stupid as to come back to Anubis House and think Fabian would be waiting for her? She had thought she was his _Chosen One_, thought she would always be. Sure, she might've left him with nothing but a letter at the beginning of the previous school year, but _still_, she had told him he was her first love. Didn't that mean something to him? How could he have moved on so quickly, and to Mara, of all people? Not that there was anything _wrong _with Mara…but as far as Nina knew, they had _never _talked. Not once had she seen them having a normal conversation, and then bam! She comes back for senior year and they're kissing?

"To disappear for a year," Joy continues, but her tone isn't as harsh as it could be. It almost sounds…knowing. "And come back to find that _everything _has been taken away."

Nina sighs, not in the mood to deal with Joy. She had never gotten to know the girl, and even though she had claimed to be over Fabian, Nina couldn't help but be a little wary. "Joy, if this is about-"

"No," the brunette dismisses. "I'm over that. It's just…I get it, you know."

_She gets it_.

And the dots are connecting in Nina's head- because, yes, if _anyone _would get it, it would be Joy, wouldn't it? Joy Mercer, mysteriously gone for a year, returning to find the one guy she had ever liked dating someone else, all her friends wrapped up in something else, something more. Because something had happened the year she was gone, and she hadn't been there with them to experience it. She hadn't bonded with them, she didn't know everything firsthand, just like Nina. And most importantly, she had watched Fabian be with someone else day in, day out.

"I get…thinking someone you like would _never ever _go and fall for someone else…and then coming back and finding out that he did. Finding out that he practically _forgot _about you. I get it." Nina nods, and Joy sits down next to her on the bed. "I mean, it's different, obviously. You and Fabian were dating…" she trails off and Nina sniffles slightly. It's so awkward to think that a girl she was once mortal enemies with was now comforting her because they had been in the same situation at one point. Nina was trying on Joy's shoes…and god, did she not like the fit. She wanted Fabian to be _hers _again- Mara didn't know him as well as Nina did. Nina could say his favorite color- _blue_- favorite food- _spaghetti_- favorite book- _The Solar System Is Your Friend_. She could rattle off lists of minor details about Fabian, just like Joy could've at one point, years ago.

"But…" Joy bites her lip. "Don't…don't do anything rash, yeah? Don't do something you'll regret." A reminiscent frown graced her face and she looked the opposite of her namesake for a split second. "I mean, you let Fabian go. And he didn't come back…"

"Which means he was never mine," Nina whispers shakily. "I know."

"It gets better," Joy encourages. "I mean, look at me. I'm dating _Jerome-_"

"Really?" Nina's eyes widen and she realizes that she's been wallowing in self-pity so long she hadn't even noticed how affectionate Joy and Jerome were being.

"I know, right?" she giggles slightly, as if she still can't believe it herself. She pauses for a while, "It's just…you'll find someone eventually. Maybe it's not who you thought it'd be, but you'll find someone."

Nina heaves another sigh- she doesn't want to find someone else, she wants _Fabian _to be there. But she knew the outcomes of trying to get him back by watching Joy two years ago, and the look in the other girl's eyes shows remorse. Revenge may have tasted sweet at the time, but it changed _everything_, and honestly, most times it's not worth it.

"Maybe it's not going to be Fabian," Joy shrugs, almost as if she read Nina's thoughts. "Who knows, maybe one day you'll wake up next to, I don't know, _Alfie_."

And even Nina laughs at that- Alfie Lewis?

No way.

**This was not meant to insult any Mabian/Nalfie shippers or anything like that. I was just trying to get into Nina's head.**


End file.
